The Cable Car of Merida
is a system of 4 trams in series, which
facilitates the long distance of 12.5 kilometers
and climbs from the city of Merida
(1640 meters) to
the Pico Espejo (4765 meters).
It is considered the Longest and Highest Tourist Mountain
Cable Car in the world.

The Cable Car of
Merida is state property of Venezuelaand as an official operation it is
asigned to the ministry of tourism which has as
its responsibility the operation, supervision,
promotion and regulation of tourist activities
in the country.The Cable Car of Merida is the fruit of a
project created by andinistas from merida
memebrs of the now extinct Andino Venezolano
Club, which in 1952 proposed the facilitation of
a system allowing tourists to ascend the
Sierra Nevada
of Merida.

The idea was approved by the
national governmentand in 1955 geographic
studies were made which aided the project design
and facilitated its immediate construction. In
December of 1956 they began to carve the route
towards the peaks.ON
November 8th, 1957, the
first car of the transport system, arrived at
La Aguada, overcoming the natural barrier
of the andes snow forests.
Although the inauguration was planned between
the two events for reason of the 400 year
clebration of the city, it was delayed because
of the death of Pope Pius 12th.
By the middle of 1958,
the Teleferico was operating at 50% of its goal.

The Teleferico,
in its system principal (destined
a service touristic),
was constructed in France by 25 different
companies, contracted by the world famous
company Applevage,
specialists in cable cars.
Other foreign companies provided different works:
la Egecca was in charge of construction
at the site. La Egecom, mounted
the mettalic structures. La
Sucre-Barret also played an important
role in the constrction.
The Teleferico
was under the charge, in its first three trams,
of the German company Heckel
and in its final section by the Swiss company
Habbeger

The director of the project
was the French specialist
Maurice Comte. Along with him,
worked professional veterans like the Italian
Giovanni Rizzi and the Swiss
Raymond Ruffieux. The majority of
laborers where Venezuelan workers from the higgh
mountain villages of the Merida andes.
Amongst the technicians and engineers where a
conglomeration of nationalities:
Spaniards, Italians, French, Germans, Poles,
Portugese, Yugoslavs, Colombians, Ecuatorians,
Argentinians, Haitians and Venezuelans.
Everyone gave thier all to raise this grand
engineering marvel in the Northern Andes of
South America.

The total Teleferico was
placed into service in march of 1960. The first
tarrif was 16 Bolivares for adults, 9 for
students and 5 for children.

R E S E R V A T I O N
S

During High Season tickets are sold in
advance, that is to say that one must purchase
the ticket before the day of ascent in of the
following manners:

Directly at the ticket office of the
Teleferico (there are no other persons or places
authorized to sell tickets)

WE DO NOT SELL TICKETS TO
BE USED THE SAME DAY. THIS SYSTEM AVOIDS LONG
AND UNMANAGBLE LINES AND GIVES AN APPOINTMENT
FOR A SPECIFIC DAY AND HOUR.

Important Information

To use the system, users must
present themselves at the station one half of an
hour before the time shown on their ticket.

Users who do not appear 30
minutes (No Show) before the time of departure
will be cancelled and will not receive a refund
nor will they have any further claims.

In case it is not possible to
be present at the time and date of the ticket
you must notify the Teleferico at least 24 hours
in advance of the date and time shown on the
ticket.

There are no refunds or
changes of tickets. The ticket is valid only for
the date shown or for the date indicated at the
time of purchase. In special cases where a
reimbursement is considered, any reimbursement
must be made within 30 days of the date of the
ticket and the Teleferico System will deduct an
administrative surcharge of 20% from the amount
paid.

The amount to pay corresponds
to the route from the tram Barinitas to the Loma
Redondo. The rest of the charges are to be paid
directly at the Loma Redondo station.

Each Cabin
has a capacity of 40 persons, of which 30 are
seated and ten are standing.

Upon arriving at the station Loma
Redondo, users should purchase the other ticket
to go to the upper station Pico Espejo, said
ticket indicating the hour of departure. The wait is
approximately 3 hours since at this time there
is but one Cabin car between Loma Redondo and
the Pico Espejo.

The ticket cannot be used in
any way for resale nor can it be used in any
promotion or commercial enterprise without the
specific written authorization of the Teleferic
System of Merida.

Panoramic
view over Merida, the source of the river Chama, its villages & the
National Park Sierra de La Culata. Observation
of the fog shrouded woods of the high andes and
of the Yagrumos (Secroppia spp)

Tram
2

2442 – 3452
m

The
Mountain – La Aguada

Length: 3289 meters

Altitude change: 1,013 meters

Highest point from the ground: 350meters

Station 3:

La Aguada

Services:

Cafeteria, Tourist Information. Observation module and maps

Sights:

Trails in
the mountain zone of the Paramo. Observation of
Frailejones (speletias spp). Panoramic of
Pico Bolívar & el National Park Sierra de La Culata

Tram
3

3452 – 4045
m

La Aguada – Loma
Redonda

Length: 2775 m

Altitude change: 594 m

Station 4: Loma Redonda

Services:

Restaurant – Cybercafe –
Medical station,
Tour Guides –
Mule rides

Sights:

Mountain
trails in the paramo. Walkway to the lagoon “Los Anteojos”. Panorama of
the west and north flanks of Pico Bolívar. Horseback trails
to Los Nevados. Woods of Coloraditos (Polilepis spp).
Walkway to the Alto de La Cruz.